Bible Park USA

Developer Armon Bar-Tur is trying to push plans for a new 280-acre theme park in central Tennessee called Bible Park USA. Rather than featuring rollercoasters and water slides, Bar-Tur’s behemoth will feature actors in a Galilean village, the “Exodus Experience” with 25 foot high waterfalls and a burning bush. bibleparkusa.com also promises a “large-scale Noah’s ark and viewing a short play with actors dressed as animals to tell the beloved story.”

Although Bible Park USA’s home page boasts an influx of 1,200 new jobs in the first two years, the permits are not a done deal. National Public Radio’s story on the park says the developer is taking heat for developing farmland. The development would create a need for parking lots, roads, gas stations, shopping centers, etc., and would get rid of otherwise farmable acres. Besides the environmental and consumer-oriented footprint, Bible Park USA is another example of cheapening an already cheapened faith, with its promises of distraction and “edutainment.”